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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Canto 6 · Prescribed Duties for Mankind · 19 chapters

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
  2. 2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
  3. 3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
  4. 4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
  5. 5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
  6. 6Write down what touched you. Note the main points in your own notebook.
Read the full guide: how to hear the Bhāgavatam ›
Canto 6 · Chapter 4: The Haṁsa-guhya Prayers Offered to the Lord by Prajāpati Dakṣa
6.4.76.4.9

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.4.8

Sthāna· The universe in order
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 6.4.4inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

अहो प्रजापतिपतिर्भगवान् हरिरव्यय: ।

वनस्पतीनोषधीश्च ससर्जोर्जमिषं विभु: ॥ ८ ॥

aho prajāpati-patir

bhagavān harir avyayaḥ

vanaspatīn oṣadhīś ca

sasarjorjam iṣaṁ vibhuḥ

Translation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Hari, is the master of all living entities, including all the prajāpatis, such as Lord Brahmā. Because He is the all-pervading and indestructible master, He has created all these trees and vegetables as eatables for other living entities.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

The Supreme Lord Provides Food for All

  1. 1

    Śrī Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the master of all living entities, including Lord Brahmā and the other prajāpatis.

  2. 2

    The all-pervading, indestructible Lord created trees and vegetables to provide food for other living entities.

  3. 3

    Soma reminds the Pracetās that destroying this vegetation would make their own subjects suffer. Trees are also needed for food.

Key points from the purport
  • Soma, the predominating deity of the moon, reminded the Pracetās that this vegetation had been created by the Lord of lords to provide food for everyone.
  • If the Pracetās tried to kill them off, their own subjects would also suffer, for trees are also required for food.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

How it feels

Anger and conflict → Spiritual commitment. Competing understandings of duty create relational tension.

Chapters 4–6 of Canto 6: Dakṣa, Nārada and the consequences of preaching. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 4: The Haṁsa-guhya Prayers Offered to the Lord by Prajāpati Dakṣa

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul, Lord Hari, is the controller of both the living entities and the material nature. He is self-sufficient and self-effulgent.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.4
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. ahoalas
  2. prajāpati-patiḥthe Lord of all the lords of created beings
  3. bhagavān hariḥthe Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari
  4. avyayaḥindestructible
  5. vanaspatīnthe trees and plants
  6. oṣadhīḥthe herbs
  7. caand
  8. sasarjacreated
3

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Sthāna · Planetary systems

    How is the universe arranged, and what is our right place in it? · Subject 3 of 10

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does seeing food as the Lord’s provision affect the way you treat it?

Practice

Before one meal today, pause to acknowledge Śrī Hari as the provider of the vegetation that nourishes living beings.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Connected stories

Keep going: stories told elsewhere in the Bhāgavatam that this verse or its purport brings in.

Found where this verse or Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport names them. See all of chapter 6.4's connections

Live this todayThe Supreme Lord Provides Food for AllThis verse's lesson: one practice and one question for today

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.

Ask the BhāgavatamHave a question about SB 6.4.8? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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